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Physical Sciences Inc. (PSI) has been awarded a contract from the U.S. Air Force to develop a novel pump-to-signal combiner that will increase the amount of pump light incident on the active region of a fiber laser to enable power scaling required for High Energy Laser (HEL) applications.
Recent advances in fiber lasers have shown their potential for power scaling to levels required by HEL applications. Two promising scaling approaches are being pursued: spectral or coherent combination of multiple fiber lasers. To simplify HEL systems, it is desirable to maximize the power available from a single fiber laser. However, fiber heating and nonlinear effects such as stimulated Brillouin and Raman scattering, limit the power available from a single fiber. PSI has proposed a novel pump coupler that provides this needed advance. In the Phase I program, PSI will develop several pump-to-signal combiner designs, evaluate them via trade studies, and down select a design to be prototyped in Phase II.
For more information contact:
David Sonnenfroh
Area Manager, Laser and Atmospheric Technologies
sonnenfroh@psicorp.com
Physical Sciences Inc.
Office: (978) 689-0003
Acknowledgement of Sponsorship: This work is supported under a contract with the Air Force Research Laboratory – Kirtland, AFB. This support does not constitute an express or implied endorsement on the part of the Government.